School of Arts & Sciences Review, St. Bonaventure University Page 10

BU Theater presented Marc Camoletti's farce
"Don't Dress for Dinner," adapted by Robin Haw-
don, in November 2011 as its fall production.

While traditional farces deal mainly with middle-age or
older characters, "Don't Dress for Dinner" features the
comic goings-on of a younger cast, forming a tangled
web of lies involving mistaken identities and scandalous
secrets.

Hawdon's adaptation of this charade from 1991 is a com-
edy about a married couple who are both involved with

other people, or at least
they think they are, and
is set during a weekend

getaway in a French country house. Director Ed. Simone,
Ph.D., professor of theater, said, "Things go terribly
wrong ... in a terribly funny way."

"Our goals were to create a space that blended rustic
countryside charm with upscale sophisticated style and
taste," said Rebecca Misenheimer, assistant professor of
theater. "While it's a modern play, it's a completely differ-
ent cross-section of society than we're used to."

"This is the first farce the theater program has done in
many years," said Simone. "Farce is hard. It's very de-
manding because things move very fast and actors have to
continually shift back and forth between lying and telling
the truth, which is where the humor comes from. It's a
real challenge for our actors and they're enjoying it."

10 | School of Arts & Sciences

`Don't Dress for Dinner'

rofessor of theater Dr. Ed. Simone directed a cast of 20
Bonaventure students in the theater program's spring
production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," March

21-24.

"`A Midsummer Night's Dream' is the
story of many small characters caught
up in a big mess: lovers ensnared by po-
tions, an ignorant weaver affixed with a donkey's head, and a
powerful fairy duped into an impossible romance," said junior
Brett Keegan, who played the role of Demetrius, one of four
lovers caught in the play's comic web.

Simone, the cast and assistant professor of theater Rebecca
Misenheimer and her technical/design crew implemented a
few fresh updates in their production of this Shakespearean
masterpiece.

"There's no point to doing Shakespeare the way it was done in
Shakespeare's time, unless you want to do a historical recre-
ation. You want to make the production living and exciting,"
Simone said. "One hundred percent of the language is Shake-
speare's; but it's living language."

Keegan said the unique set design and costumes, along with
musical accompaniment, brought the play vividly to life. "It's
all about making the language visible," he said.

Student Emily West and Misenheimer planned a number of
distinctive visual elements for the production. West was the

`A Midsummer

Night's Dream'

SBU Theater takes on
farce, Shakespeare in
challenging productions

Journalism and mass communication major Sean O'Brien and
theater/English dual major Ashley Waterman are pictured in
"Don't Dress for Dinner."

English major and
theater minor student
Mike Dlugosz takes
the stage with theater
and J/MC dual major
Tori Lanzillo in "A
Midsummer Night's
Dream.